By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
South Africa’s manufacturing output rose 2.6% year-on-year in January, after rising by a revised 1.3% in December, Statistics South Africa data showed on Thursday.
Director of Industry Statistics Nicolai Claassen said seasonally adjusted manufacturing production increased by 0.8% in January 2024 compared with December 2023.
This followed month-on-month changes of -1.3% in December 2023 and 0.9% in November 2023.
“The largest positive contributions were made by petroleum, chemical products, rubber and plastic products (13.6% and contributing 2.9 percentage points).
“Wood products, paper, publishing and printing (5.0% and contributing 0.5 of a percentage point);
“Textiles, clothing, leather and footwear (6.6% and contributing 0.2 of a percentage point); and glass and non-metallic mineral products (5.2% and contributing 0.2 of a percentage point),” said Claassen.
Seasonally adjusted manufacturing production increased by 0.2% in the three months ended January 2024 compared with the previous three months.
At the same time, seasonally adjusted manufacturing sales increased by 1.6% in the three months ended January 2024 compared with the previous three months.